Will area CIF-SS playoff games draw a crowd?

Oxnard's Danny Smith makes a cutback against Rio Mesa in a showdown between Pacific View League rivals last Friday night. Area schools are hoping a recent trend of lower attendance at high school sports events will not continue.(Photo: CHUCK KIRMAN/THE STAR)Buy Photo

There's a tell-tale line inside CIF-SS Commissioner Rob Wigod's most recent message to member schools.

Following the 2014-2015 school year, Wigand said, the Southern Section was able to refund membership dues to every school in the section. The outflow totaled $500,000.

Then comes the addendum:

"However, since that time," he noted, "we have seen a significant drop in paid attendance at Southern Section playoff games, specifically a reduction in ticket sales."

As an avid observer of high school sports, I've witnessed sparse crowds, packed houses and everything in between for regular-season and postseason games these past couple of seasons. Do we detect a decided downward trend in attendance for high school sporting events?

"We're pretty much where we've always been," he said. "I haven't seen any real drop-off. Our attendance has been steady."

In terms of student population, location and athletic success, Rio Mesa represents the center median for area schools.

But Ruffinelli also notes that marketing high school sports faces numerous obstacles. He said his school continually strives to drum up interest.

"We're a school that's surrounded by strawberry fields, so we know we have work to do to keep our students interested," he said. "We hold rallies, fundraisers and anything we can think of to make sure our students are involved."

Ruffinelli thinks the biggest deterrent in packing the house for a playoff game comes down to simple economics.

"I think the economy is better now that it was, say, five years ago, but it's still a factor," he said. "The (CIF-SS) is asking $10 for a playoff game, and that might not be a big deal for a football game that is once a week. But it's also $10 for a basketball and volleyball game, and that might be asking our adults to attend two games a week. That adds up quickly."

Ruffinelli added: "If you want to take your family to a high school football game, you might end up spending $40 to $50 just to get in the gate. If you want to do that two, three or four times a month, that can be a couple hundred dollars."

Travel also plays a key role in reducing attendance, particularly for playoff games. It's one thing to ask students or attendance to travel from, say, Thousand Oaks High to play a game at Newbury Park.

It's quite another for students and parents to head to Pomona or Orange County or Riverside.

Rio Mesa's boys water polo team has been a regular qualifier for the CIF-SS championships in Riverside. Even those games are anything but sellouts.

"It's maybe half-full," said Ruffinelli. "It is what it is. It's hard to ask our fans to make the trip to Irvine where it's two hours one way."

There are other factors.

The Southern Section has done an admirable in creating a revamped playoff structure that is based on competitive equity. While that concept opens up title possibilities for programs, it also frequently pits teams against unfamiliar opponents.

It might be a stretch for Oaks Christian fans, for example, to get excited about playing La Habra in a first-round game.

The CIF-SS does have a plan to rev up attendance.

It has launched a program called #PACKTHEHOUSE.

Yep. it encourages schools to do all it can to spice up the product and boost ticket sales.

This involves publicizing the slogan, reaching out to alumni, investing in rooter busses, etc.

There's also a contest being offered by the Southern Section that will award $1,000 to the best student sections. The winners will be determined by social medial likes, creativity, sportsmanship and attendance relative to school size.

The first round of playoff games this school year begin next month with the fall playoffs. The Southern Section will be closely watching.